Feb. 6, 1890] 



NATURE 



135 



Royal Microscopical Society, January 8. — Rev. Dr. 

 Dallinger, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Mr. T. F. 

 Smith exhibited to the meeting, by means of the oxyhydrogen 

 lantern, a series of photomicrographs of various diatoms taken 

 with Zeiss's apochromatic objectives and projection eye-pieces, , 

 giving powers of 1000 to 7500 diameters. At the conclusion of 

 the exhibition Mr. Smith presented the series of slides — 52 

 in number — to the Society for future use and reference. — Mr. 

 T. C. White exhibited a specimen of a parasite found in the 

 cockroaches which infest sugar-ships ; also a slide containing 

 bacilli in large numbers from a urinary deposit. — A paper by 

 Dr. R. L. Maddox, on a small glass rod illuminator, was read. — 

 Owing to the lateness of the hour, the reading of papers by Mr. 

 Michael and Dr. Czapski was postponed until the March 

 meeting. 



Chemical Society, January 16. — Dr. W. J. Russell, F.R.S., 

 in the chair. — The following papers were read : — A new method 

 of estimating the oxygen dissolved in water, by Dr. J. C. Thresh. 

 The process is based on the fact that whereas, in the absence of 

 oxygen, nitrous acid and hydrogen iodide interact, forming 

 iodine, water, and nitric oxide, in the presence of oxygen the 

 nitric oxide becomes re-oxidized, and, serving as a carrier of the 

 oxygen, brings about an additional separation of iodine, equiva- 

 lent in amount to the oxygen present ; hence, deducting the 

 amount of iodine liberated by the nitrous acid and by the oxygen 

 dissolved in the solutions used from the total amount, the differ- 

 ence will be that corresponding to the oxygen dissolved in the 

 water examined. The apparatus required is a very simple one, 

 the analytical operations are conducted in an atmosphere of coal 

 gas, and the results in the case of freshly distilled water agree 

 closely with those recently published by Sir H. E. Roscoe and 

 Mr. Lunt (Chem. Soc. Trans., 1889, 552). — Note on a milk of 

 abnormal quality, by Mr. F. J. Lloyd. The author gave the 

 results of an examination of the milk of two cross-bred short- 

 horns, and called attention to the abnormally low proportion of 

 solid constituents other than fat. — The sulphates of antimony, by 

 Mr. R. H. Adie. 



Zoological Society, January 14. — Prof. A. Newton, 

 F. R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — The Secretary read a 

 report on the additions that had been made to the Society's 

 menagerie during the month of December 1889. — Mr. Sclater 

 exhibited and made remarks on a specimen of a very singular 

 duck from North-East Asia, apparently referable to the genus 

 Tadorna, sent to him for determination by Dr. Liitken, of 

 Copenhagen. After a careful examination Mr. Sclater was in- 

 clined to think that it was probably a hybrid between Tadorna 

 casarca and Qiierquedida falcata. — Mr. Sclater exhibited and 

 made remarks on a set of small birds' bones obtained from 

 beneath some deposits of nitrate in Southern Peru, transmitted 

 lo the Society by Prof. W. Nation. — Mr. David Wijson-Barker 

 exhibited and made remarks on some specimens of Teredos taken 

 from submarine telegraphic cables off the Brazilian coast. — Prof. 



F. Jeffrey Bell exhibited and made remarks on some living 

 specimens of Bipalium, transmitted to the Society by the Rev. 



G. H. R. Fisk, of Capetown. — A communication was read from 

 Mr. R. Lydekker, containing an account of a new species of 

 extinct olter from the Lower Pliocene of Eppelsheim. The 

 author described part of the lower jaw, which he had previously 

 referred to Luira dtibia, fiom the deposits indicated. Having, 

 however, now seen a cast of the type of the latter, he found that 

 the present specimen indicated a distinct species, for which the 

 name L. hessica was proposed. — A communication was read 

 from Prof. Bertram C. A. Windle and Mr. John Humphreys, 

 on some cranial and dental characters of the domestic dog. The 

 paper was based on the results of the measurements of a large 

 number of dogs' skulls of various breeds. Its object was to 

 ascertain whether cranial and dental characteristics afforded 

 sufficient information to permit of a scientific classification of the 

 breeds, or would throw any light upon their origin. The con- 

 clusion so far arrived at was that interbreeding had been so 

 extensive and complicated as to make it impossible to distinguish 

 the various forms scientifically from the characters examined. 

 Several points with regard to the shape of head and palate and 

 the occasional occurrence of an extra molar were also touched 

 upon.^Mr. G. A. Boulenger read the fourth of his series of 

 contributions to the herpetology of the Solomon Islands. The 

 present memoir gave an account of the last collection brought 

 home by Mr. C. M. Woodford. Besides known species, this 

 collection contained examples of a new snake, proposed to be 



called Hoplocephalus elapoides. — A second paper by Mr. Bou- 

 lenger contained a list of the reptiles, batrachians, and freshwater 

 fishes collected by Prof. Moesch and Mr. Iversen in the districts 

 of Delhi and Langkat, in North-Eastem Sumatra. — Dr. Giinther, 

 F.R.S., read a paper entitled "A Contribution to our Know- 

 ledge of British Pleuronectidse." The author described the true 

 Arnoglossus grohmanni, a Mediterrariean scald-fish, recently 

 discovered by the Rev. W. S. Green on the Irish coast, and 

 quite distinct from Arnoglossus lopJiotes. Dr. Giinther also 

 stated that the Mediterranean lemon-sole {Solca lascaris) was 

 specifically identical with the British species {Solea aiirantiacd), 

 but was distinct from that of the Canary Islands and Madeira 

 {Solea scriba) ; and gave it as his opinion that the Mediterranean' 

 Solea lutea and British Solea viinuta cannot be separated by any 

 constant character. 



Edinburgh. 



Royal Society, January 6. — Lord Maclaren, Vice-President, 

 in the chair. — Bailie Russell read an obituary notice of the late 

 Sir James Falshaw, Bart. — Prof. Tait read a paper on the effect 

 of friction on vortex-motion. — Dr. A. Bruce described a con- 

 nection (hitherto undescribed) of the inferior olivary body of 

 the medulla oblongata, which has a function in the maintenance 

 cf equilibrium of the body. — Dr. W. H. Perkin read a paper 

 on the internal condensation of some diketones. — A photograph 

 of a group of sun-spots and of the surface of the sun was pre- 

 sented by Mr. James Naismith. The photograph was from a 

 drawing made in 1864. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, January 27. — M. Hermite in the 

 chair. — On clasmatocytes, by M. L. Ranvier. The author gives 

 this name (from KKafffia, fragment, and kvtos, cell) to certain 

 elements which are easily detected under the microscope in the 

 thin connective membranes of the vertebrates when they are pre- 

 pared by a process here described. They are not migratory 

 cells, but have their origin in the leucocytes, or lymphatic cells, 

 though it is not to be supposed that all leucocytes develop into- 

 clasmatocytes. — On the theorem of Euler in the theory of poly- 

 hedrons, by M. de Jonquieres. The paper deals with Lhuilier's 

 objection, accepted by Gergonne, against the generalization of 

 Euler's formula, which is shown to be applicable to all poly- 

 hedrons, whether convex or not. It is further placed beyondi 

 doubt that Euler not only enounced, but gave a full demonstra- 

 tion of the formula in question. — On the roots of an algebraic 



equation, by Prof. A. Cayley. Assuming / {u) to be a rational 



and integral function, with real or imaginary coefficients, of the 



n order; and supposing that the equation / {ti) = o, of the order 



I, has « - I roots, then it is shown that the equation- 



{u) = o will have « roots. The demonstration rests on the 



/ 



same principles as those of Gauss and Cauchy. — Researches on 

 the cultivation of the potato, by M. Aime Girard. The author 

 communicates the re>ults of his experiments, continued for three 

 years at the Ferme de la Faisanderie, Joinville-le-Pont, with the 

 variety of the potato known as Richter's Imperator, which is 

 shown to yield a far larger crop of starch-bearing tubers than any 

 other variety cultivated in France. The paper was supplemented 

 by some remarks by M. P. P. Deherain, who stated that his own 

 experiments fully confirmed those of M. Girard. There could be 

 no doubt as to the great superiority of Richter's Imperator, 

 especially as a starch-producing tuber. — Remarks on the 

 Annualrc dti Bureau des Longittides for 1890, by M. Faye. 

 In presenting a copy of this valuable annual for 1890, M. Faye 

 remarked that the astronomic section of the work became more 

 important every year. The present volume contains a table of 

 the planetary phenomena, the most accurate available data for the 

 variable stars, a catalogue of the chief stars whose magnitudes cor- 

 respond to Pickering's photometric scale, papers on the use of the 

 aneroid barometer, on the elasticity of solids and the neutral tem- 

 perature of thermo-electric couples, together with the magnetic 

 elements for France and its seaports on January i, 1890, and at 

 various Mediterranean stations for 1887. — On the simply rational 

 transformations of algebraic surfaces, by M. Paul Painleve. In 

 this paper the author extends to the transformations in question 

 M. Picard's method relative to the biralional transformations 

 of algebraic surfaces. — ,On the substitution of the salts in mixed 

 solutions, by M. A. Etard. In his previous researches the 



